The creation of Iowa’s first-ever Live Music Commission was approved by the Des Moines City Council last week.

Ames has no such commission and has no official city sponsorship.

“Although Ames could benefit from such a commission I am sure, we have a different set of problems than Des Moines. Currently Ames really has no problem attracting young people,” said Matthew Goodman, Ames City Council member.

“It is a great idea and I am really excited for the City of Des Moines.”

The Des Moines City Council is to begin the process of selecting seven volunteer representatives from various areas of the Des Moines music industry that will make up the commission, said Fritz Junker, president of the Des Moines Music Coalition.

“The commission will be a planning tool for Des Moines to provide a way for local music professionals to advise the city on ways to create a more friendly environment for artists,” he said. “While Des Moines is not unfriendly to musicians there is much more that can be done to help them and that is the goal of this commission.”

Junker has worked closely with a similar commission that already exists in Austin, Texas. Des Moines hopes to copy Austin’s local music scene and its youthful vibe as a city.

“I called down to some people I know in Austin and asked them if they had any suggestions on how to start something up in Des Moines and over the course of a year it developed into a very close cooperative relationship,” Junker said.

The charter of the Des Moines Music Commission states it will be working to create a next-generation music economy for the purpose of urban revitalization, economic development and for retention of the regions young people.

The Commission also received the endorsement of Richard Florida, author of “The Rise of the Creative Class.”

In Florida’s book he tells of the aspects that will decide if a city will thrive in the future and those that will make cities wither and fail.

Florida’s book suggests that cities that support the arts and cater to creative youth are those that will thrive in the coming years.

“Since Ames proportionally has a much larger number of young people I think that they are catered to by local businesses and we don’t have the same problems that Des Moines has in that area,” Goodman said.